OAS General Assembly seeks resolutions to strengthen democracy

This Friday concludes the 53rd General Assembly of the OAS, in Washington.

The Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was in charge of opening the plenary session this Friday.

During his presentation, Blinken stressed that the United States works for a democracy for the entire continent and that when there is no judicial independence in a country, democracy is weakened.

Together, we can enable our governments to take full advantage of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and expand our tools to build resilient democracies, from training young leaders to ensuring that OAS election observers can operate free from threats of harassment or any other undue pressure. Blinken told the plenary.

After Secretary Blinken, it was the turn of the permanent representative of El Salvador to the OAS, Agustín Vásquez, who, in the absence of the foreign minister, expressed that his country has decided “to face security and peace” after the accusations of international organizations for alleged violations of human rights as a result of the designation of the State of emergency a year and a half ago.

The OAS has made the issue of human rights a priority in this assembly as a necessity to safeguard democracy in the region.

In his turn, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Mario Búcaro took the opportunity to guarantee that the elections to be held in his country this Sunday will be “transparent and under the observation of the international community.”

For his part, the foreign minister of Costa Rica, André Tinoco, commented to VOA that the resolutions are already quite advanced in the work that the committees have been doing.

“The sentences on human rights violations are coming, and the other resolutions derived from it in support of the development and breadth of the other complaints that the OAS deals with,” said Minister Tinoco.

Tinoco also added during the day on Friday that the challenges for democracy in the region are “remarkable”, as well as the issue of migration and the serious problems facing the region in the face of climate change.

For his part, the Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic, Roberto Álvarez Gil, said that his country is committed to supporting “all the agreements” that arise from this General Assembly and that they are working on preparing the next summit to be held on the island. from the Caribbean.

During the parallel events of this last day, the theme of “migrant children” is also planned, promoted by the Permanent Mission of Chile and Colombia co-sponsored by the Inter-American Dialogue.

On the other hand, the foreign minister of Ecuador, Gustavo Manrique, the last to close the day of debates on Thursday, told the voice of america after the second day of the assembly attended by 24 ministers, that the approach to the issues “is on the right track” and they are preparing to close with the resolutions planned for this meeting, where it is expected to leave a strong message.

“The dialogue is flowing, there are many coincidences, but as always in the small words, in the commas are the deadlocks in the talks, but we wait to see tomorrow how our declarations and resolutions end,” said Minister Manrique.

In the absence of the Honduran foreign minister, the ambassador to the OAS, Roberto Ramos Bustos, said that the government of President Xiomara Castro is subjected to “constant attacks” due to the administration’s work to deal with insecurity problems and the fight against poverty in the country, and that the government will continue with “the effort to carry” the objectives forward with the support of the international community and the work of the OAS.

At the end of the plenary session, the Mexican delegation said that the challenges facing the region are enormous and that the OAS must work in harmony to be effective.

At the beginning of the second plenary session of the 53rd General Assembly that seeks a resolution submitted by Argentina for the rights of the sea and the Malvinas Islands, the Bolivian ambassador to the OAS, Hector Enrique Arce, says that the South American country supports a new discussion on the opening of talks between Argentina and the United Kingdom to find a solution to the delimitation of the borders.

Chile and Guatemala have also joined in supporting Argentina.

Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Uruguay, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, among others, take the floor in plenary through their ambassadors who support “Argentina’s legitimate right over the Malvinas Islands” and that the negotiations with the United Kingdom can “resolve disputes” by peaceful means. The issue is of “regional interest,” they said.

New members of the IACHR

The new members of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) to begin a four-year term as of January 2024 are: Andrea Pochak, proposed by Argentina, 20 votes; Christopher Arif Bulkan, Guyana, with 27 votes; Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana, current member proposed by Guatemala, with 24 votes; Gloria Monique, Suriname, with 27 votes. The representations before the OAS congratulated their winning shortlists who go on to defend human rights on the continent.

The members of the IACHR are appointed by the General Assembly. The outgoing vice president of the Commission said when taking the floor and presenting the 2022 annual report that the work of the IACHR must continue promoting access to inter-American justice, where 2,421 complaints were filed.

“27 friendly settlement agreements were signed; of the demands, 24 cases were submitted to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, being one of the years with the most cases sent to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the last 25 years,” said the vice president of the organization. .

In the countries where human rights are most violated, the IACHR pointed to Cuba, where there is no right to protest or other fundamental guarantees. In Guatemala, more than 30 justice operators have had to leave the country, said the vice president of the IACHR. In Nicaragua “all critical voices are silenced and even the Catholic Church is persecuted, and in Venezuela there have been extrajudicial executions and persecution of human rights defenders,” the vice president of the IACHR told the plenary session.

The president of the Inter-American Court, Ricardo Pérez Manrique, requests that the regional organization that issues binding rulings for the member states and signatories of the Inter-American Charter of Human Rights, must have a full budget to advance in its work contributed by the Court.

The director general of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, told the OAS assembly that climate change is making health more vulnerable “for the majority of the population of the Americas,” where there are challenges especially with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted and exacerbated some problems of exclusion and access to justice.

“The right to health must be guaranteed,” said the head of the regional body attached to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The US ambassador to the OAS, Francisco Mora, opening the session after the reports from human rights organizations in the region, said that the US appreciates the work of those who are leaving their posts, and welcomes the new appointments . Organizations such as the IACHR and the Inter-American Court and other instances are key in the region, he said.

At the close of the General Assembly, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, broadcast a video message in which he called on Latin America to embrace Ukraine’s desire for freedom, which is defending itself against Russian aggression, while thanking the States members who support their country waging the defense of freedom for the world.

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and instagram.